Millet settled in Barbizon, a village outside of Paris, in 1849 and dedicated himself to portraying scenes of rural life. The solitary shepherdess tending to her flock became a popular motif in his drawings and paintings. While Millet’s peaceful representations of the French countryside sought to ennoble the lives of peasants, he also provoked controversy by honestly portraying the hardships of rural poverty. Despite his focus on the timeless figure of the shepherdess, the inclusion of two farmers at work in the distance serves as a reminder of the arduous labor of provincial life.
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Credit Line:H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929
Object Number:29.100.116
Girl with Sheep
Signature: Conté crayon, lower right: J.F. Millet
Inscription: Verso, in old French hand, in graphite: 67-55 [and illegible word]
Marking: Watermark: coat of arms with two stars. This watermark is reproduced in: Inventaire général des Dessins de Musée du Louvre et du Musée de Versailles, École française, v. 7, no. 160.
Alfred Sensier; Jean-Baptiste Faure; R. B. Angus, Paris (until 1893); Durand-Ruel Gallery, New York (bought from Angus); Previously owned by Mr. and Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer
Legion of Honor, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. "Nineteenth century French drawings, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, 1947," March 8, 1947–April 6, 1947.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Barbizon: French Landscapes of the Nineteenth Century," February 4–May 10, 1992.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Splendid Legacy: The Havemeyer Collection," March 27–June 20, 1993.
New York State Museum, Albany. "French Painters of Nature: The Barbizon School Landscapes from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," May 22, 2004–August 22, 2004.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Light and Tone: Selections from the Department of Drawings and Prints," May 18, 2023–September 5, 2023.
Emile Michel Le Foret de Font'bleau dans la nature . . . et dans l'art. Paris, 1909, fig. no. pl. 22, ill.
Richard Muther Jean François Millet. London and New York, 1910, opp. pp. 2, 22, ill.
The H.O. Havemeyer Collection: Catalogue of Paintings, Prints, Sculpture and Objects of Art. Privately published, New York, 1931, pp. 190, 191 (il, ill.
Nineteenth century French drawings. San Francisco, 1947, cat. no. 45, p. 35, ill.
Frances Weitzenhoffer, University Microfilms International The Creation of the Havemeyer Collection, 1875-1900[Ph.D. diss., CUNY, 1982]. PhD diss., 1982 fig. no. fig. 54, p. 199, ill.
Frances Weitzenhoffer The Havemeyers: Impressionism Comes to America. New York, 1986, pp. 91, 257.
Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen, Gary Tinterow Splendid Legacy: The Havemeyer Collection. Exh. cat.: March 27-June 20. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1993, pp. 218, 286,359, ill.
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